Star Wars: Incident at Talegia
by Jedireaper
Summary: 2 ABY: Darion Blade and Lanna K'yrinn, experienced smugglers and close friends, end up in a spot of bother on Ord Mantell after a payment to Black Suns goes sour. Tangling with Imperials and the like as they desperately try to get away from those hot on their heels. UPDATES TO FOLLOW
1. Trouble on Ord Mantell

Star Wars – Incident at Talegia, By DrunkenFish Entertainment

Original Concept by Jedireaper

Written by Jedireaper and ShawnMorgan

Episode One - Trouble on Ord Mantell

* * *

_ALL RIGHTS TO STAR WARS AND ANY OTHER COPYRIGHTED PROPERTY ARE RESERVED TO THEIR ORIGINAL CREATORS, NO INFRINGMENT INTENDED_

* * *

"I have a bad feeling about this." Darion Blade muttered.

"Tell me about it" Lanna K'rynn answered. The unseen partner in Darion's conversation, her voice was metallic over the invisible com in his ear.

The tall, space worn smuggler smiled wearily as he walked down the dark alley towards the dirtily lit neon entrance of the cantina. "Glad the coms work anyway." He muttered as he breathed in the dank air.

"I'm not seeing any movement from up here boss, just be careful though, there are a lot of shadows down there. Hopefully we get to drop payment, deliver our shipment and then we're free and clear."

"That is the hope." He responded. "Right, I'm at the cantina, I'll talk to you soon."

"At least I'll finally pay off my debt to the Black Suns… and then some." He said mostly to himself and sighed. Taking a step forward he rested a hand just in front of his hip, at the hemming of his coat.

The establishment was seedy, and dark just as he'd expected from the side-alley he'd walked down. "Looks just like a Hutt's ass in here."

One of the Patrons leaving the establishment bumped into him and either heard him, or misheard him. Darion didn't really know, as the alien spat something at him in a language he didn't understand, or the man was just too inebriated to speak it, just as he fell straight into some overfilled refuse containers about three metres away.

"I have no idea what you are saying buddy…." he responded, turning his attention back to the club and entering properly. "It even smells like a Kriffing Hutt in here." Darion commented as he made his way over to the bar, and ordered himself a drink. He stood there for a minute, turning from the bar as he received his Corellian Ale.

Music was rather conflictingly playing from speakers and a band at the end of the room he was in. "Maybe I'm early." He muttered to himself. "Still, this makes a Garbage scow look like a place I'd prefer to be."

"Aren't you going to order a lady a drink?" A soft female voice said from off to his side, causing the Smuggler to half turn around.

"You're a- Zeltron-"

"Oh c'mon, Darion, buy me a drink, I'll make it worth your while." She said almost too seductively.

"A drink? Sure." He signalled the bartender and he fully turned, sipping at the bubbling ale. "But first you tell me lady; How'd you know my name?" Darion guessed that this was going to be his contact, he hadn't been successful after all, through being careless.

"Can we sit down?"

He sighed, he should have been expected something like this, nothing ever went smoothly in his line of work but hey, at least he'd finally pay off his debt to the Black Suns.

He motioned towards one of the partially enclosed, vacant booths. "After you."

They sat at a wall table, each with a Corellian Ale. Darion lounged back in his seat, hand resting on his blaster.

"Well, now that we're all sitting comfortably," Darion said, "I have some questions, "first, is it even possible for the music in this place to improve?"

"No, it doesn't improve and shall we now both put our blasters away hm, we wouldn't want to upset our hosts."

"That was my second question. But obviously, ladies first. And are you going to answer my other question now?"

"Thank you. Well Darion Blade, of course I know your name, you have quite a reputation. From Malastare, to the Bydine gap, and of course from my employer, so really you were expecting me. Blade isn't even your real name is it?"

"Well lady, since you know so much about me, I think It's only fair that I know a little about you too?" Darion leaned forwards, waiting.

"You may call me Firane." She brought out a data-pad as she lowered her hands. "I believe we have a final payment to make."

Darion grinned. "Firane huh? Well sister, you're beginning to talk my language. So how much would you like to pay me?" He chuckled.

She did not seem amused, but offered a sickly smile, one that caused Darion's stomach to knot. "Highly amusing, you will be making the payment to us, if we can just hurry this along, Darion. I have a speeder waiting and the boys do get so lonely without me."

"Do they? Well I won't keep you, Firane. Shall we?"

"Just put your credit chip here against my datapad, to make the payment and your life will be ensured." She leaned forward, deliberately crowding him.

"Ensured? Don't you mean insured."

"We shall see."

"There ya go, sister, all done. Now I'll just be getting my completion signals and we'll-" he trailed off when he noticed the armed mercenaries surrounding the table, pointing blasters at him.

"Don't move." The ugliest one said threateningly.

"Friends of yours, I take it?"

"Wonderful, now if you'd be so kind as to not move, then the boys won't have to put blaster burns through that lovely red coat of yours."

"Guess they didn't want to wait with the speeder huh?"

"Something like that." She gave a vigorous nod.

"I really should have noticed you guys earlier." Darion muttered, as he glanced around at the seemingly uninterested patronage of the bar. "Come here often?"

The blaster in the ugly ones hands whined as it powered up. "Shut it!"

"Please, Darion such a callous person we seem to be today." She retorted.

"I'm sorry, wasn't I already paying enough attention to you, Zeltron?"

The worst of it was that Darion had subconsciously realised he'd screwed up as he'd signed. Something had put him off his game. Then he recalled that Zeltrons, like Falleen, could exude pheromones, not as ubiquitous as them, but effective nonetheless. Damnit. she'd set him up good. Guess it was time for plan B. He just had to think it up whilst talking to her, with a load of blasters pointed at him.

Quila Firane leaned against on the table her smile fading. " Not in the right way, human. Not in the right way. So..."

"Oh, I hope you're listening." Darion mostly muttered.

Quila gave him a slightly puzzled look. "Oh, I am always listening Captain Blade."

Darion smiled internally. 'Good, you have no idea I was checking on my back up.'

"Now, we still need to discuss your life ensurance costs. I'd say one-hundred percent of your original debt should do. Consider it inconvenience payments."

"You're kidding me." Darion grimaced. "Is this the part where I say 'over my dead body' and you reply 'that's the general idea?"

"Oh please, the Solo and Greedo debacle on Tatooine. Spare me."

"Okay then, I'll just be leaving." Darion tried to stand up, but was immediately presented with a blaster in his side.

"Stay right where you are."

"Nice try, Darion, but you dropped a highly valuable shipment of stolen Imperial technology, do you really believe we were just going to let you go? Take him to the speeder."

At her signal, Quila's two henchmen took Darion under each arm, having caught up a little more slowly than their boss. They began pulling him towards the speeder which was floating gently down a dingy little back street, a dingy little backstreet that Darion felt was a doorway to another world, with each passing step he was forced to take, notably the underworld where breathing was forbidden.

"Hey fellas, I know you're keen on being all up close and personal, but I've got a certain reputation for class and I sure don't want our first date down an alley outside a dingy club."

The Zeltron girl smiled. " I would think that it was a step up from some of the establishments you do business in."

"Ya mean like this one?"

"Exactly. Nice to get on the same page at last. Now move towards that alley and do try to co-operate."

"I really don't feel like it, not like I have much choice mind you."

"Choice. Some of us have it, some of us don't and right now, you-"

Two shots rang out and the two bodies holding Darion flumped to the ground, hitting it with a most satisfying thud.

Darion had been waiting for this, knowing full well that Lanna would have moved fast when she realised he had trouble. He Grabbed a blaster and dove into the alley, taking cover. His supposed death trap now his salvation... he hoped.

The Rodian in the waiting speeder was quickly blasted by Lanna who had decide he was the primary target.

"In your next life, dear Rodian, learn to shoot first..." Lanna's voice was gleeful. anyone who knew her well, knew she detested Rodians.

Darion grinned as he recognised the voice of his co-pilot Lanna K'yrinn. She was firing past him at the enemy and also sniping at him, fortunately for him, it was purely verbal.

"What the hell did I _say_ Darion!? I damn well said that they'd try something like _this_."

"Yeah well, Lanna, I kinda knew that! Considering that I am currently dodging blaster bolts, or haven't you noticed these bright red things zipping past me? And is this really the time?!"

"Back to business as usual then eh?"

"Yup! Did you get us a speeder?"

"Just did! Check out the dead Rodian in the speeder at the end of the alley."

"I think he's already checked out."

At the other end of the alley staying in cover against more accurate shooting, Quila was cursing radio silence. She'd had five Gamorrean mercenaries at the other end of the alley. Not that they spoke much Basic, but even their piggish dialect would have been preferable to the static she now got.

"Quila Firane to units three through five, Credits are authorised for capture of Darion Blade, five-hundred thousand credits on delivery, no reward of also being there, termination of rivals is not acceptable practice."

"Lanna, let's get the frag out of here!"

"Copy that Darion, I'll meet you at the power regulator, by the north tower."

"Just moving this blasted Rodian," he said as he pushed the body out through the other side of the hovering vehicle, then began flipping switches. "Right. I'm on my way up."

Darion kicked the speeder into high gear and swung it's nose around just as he saw Quila's head peering around the far corner. It was only for a moment. He waved jauntily and shot off towards the end of the block.

Darion was only mildly surprised when he found Lanna waiting at the tower already, which must have been around a two-hundred metre dash for her. Her talents continued to impress him at times. "You never struck me as an Antarian Ranger!" He said, grinning, and she grinned back.

"I've never struck you." She smiled.

"You know what I meant!" He responded, as she scrambled aboard with all the grace he'd expect of her. "You know the way to our ship right?"

"Like a Mandalorian blood-hound."

"Then take over, looks like we are about to have company, and, " he added, "it's my turn to shoot."

"Move over then."

"I'm moving, I'm moving. There!"

The modified speeder's detectors blipped as five enemy speeders were identified closing in on them from various directions. Lanna pulled a hard right and Darion looked puzzled as he figured out which way they were heading.

"Uh, Lanna… the spaceport's the _other_ way!"

"Yup! And they'll be on us like Wamp rats if we try to go straight there. So we're taking the indirect route. Hopefully we'll lose them before they catch us."

Blaster bolts cut through the air at them as another speeder fell in behind them.

"Too late, they're already on us!" Darion shouted, as he returned fire.

"Cutting low," Lanna gritted her teeth as she threw the speeder into a dive towards the ground, weaving around one of the power-regulators. "Gonna angle towards those towers over there."

"ARE YOU CRAZY! At this low altitude we're… gonna… get… pancaked!"

"Shut-up and shoot them!"

A blaster bolt zipped across their bow, and the enemy speeder came at them fast, sending civilians scurrying for cover. Lanna grimaced and Darion braced for the course correction. As sure as the empire loathed aliens and women, it came sharply as Lanna refused to endanger bystanders.

It was a quality Darion lauded, there were far too many people in this galaxy were entirely selfish. He and his co pilot were only two thirds selfish. He really wished the universe would stop picking on he and Lanna for that. He recovered fast.

"Aw Sith! The Mynocks are co operating! Two to starboard, two to port, one rear... " Darion shouted as loud as he could. "Get ready to make an express delivery on my mark!"

Lanna smirked, for she knew full well what he was planning. Darion had come up with a slightly insane move after watching a low quality holo adventure about daring resistance fighters.

"May the inertia be with us!" with that she pulled the speeder to a full stop..

The following speeder saw that it would collide with them... and tried to evade them by braking. This was the wrong thing to do as it stalled.

The second part of Darion's move was to have Lanna briefly switch off the speeder's repulsor-lift generators, dropping them several feet. The speeder closing in behind them saw its stalled partner far too late.

The fire-ball was quite spectacular and the light from the collision reflected in the windows of the towers and buildings around them as Lanna powered the engines, and they sped away. This left three more speeders out there. Two were closing in on them even now and Darion was fairly sure the third one would make its presence known again soon.

One of the remaining speeder's flew in from the side firing viciously at them… missing but impacting on civilian buildings. a mother and child barely avoided being vaporised but were trapped behind now burning rubble.

"Lanna we should get out of here before civilians get hurt!"

"I agree. Cutting left. heading for the 'port now."

"Whittled them down enough huh?"

"And this thing's almost out of power."

One of the pursuing speeders tried to ram them and in doing so send them into a large tenement block. Darion's response to this was three blaster shots to the pilot's chest.

"What a piece of Hutt spawn." Darion Muttered.

The enemy pilot stiffened and then slumped on to the controls heading down towards more civilians. Darion tensed but then breathed a little easier when he saw it explode in a dingy speeder lot. It had been a little too close to the mark.

"Not much choice there boss." Lanna said. Darion knew this but hearing someone else echo his thoughts anchored his mind.

"Thanks Lanna."

"Understood." That one word managed to convey so much between them.

Lanna was a skilled pilot, which often synergised very nicely with her natural multitasking abilities, which at the moment translated in pitching the speeder one hundred and thirty degrees and gaining several metres of altitude.

Darion saw the sensors flash red, the bleeping sounds following a split second later. Darion was about to comment but Lanna beat him to it concerning a different problem.

"Hey Boss, one of them's peeling off. Just one sleemo left on our trail."

"Okay then. Time for the old 'Express delivery!"

"Prep up then Darion, and May the Force with you!"

Darion brought his legs up to the sides of the vehicle and wedged himself in bracing for all he was worth as the speeder turned upside down. It simultaneously executed a hard one eighty degree turn.

Shocked to his core, the opposing speeder pilot couldn't bring his mind back to reality before Darion dropped into the passenger seat, drawing his gun. Darion raised one eyebrow.

"Land. Now." The Speeder landed and the pilot raised his hands slowly. Darion smiled encouragingly "Okay, so far so good. Now get out and walk away."

"O-okay," The pilot stammered. He walked away briskly and darion considered blasting the scumbag anyway.

Lanna pulled up and exited the speeder. She spared a glance at the departing mercenary and then looked darion over. "Tempted to blast him huh?"

"Yeah, but letting him go is less trouble and it means that others will be more likely to accept our surrender."

"Yeah, good call."

Darion smirked at his pilot. She knew him so well.

The pair made their way to the docks uncontested.

* * *

"Hey Lanna." Darion spoke as they walked along the corridors.

"Yeah?"

" You ever think we should get out of this game."

"Every single time I get shot at. Which seems to be pretty much every other job…"

"_Right_..."

"I'm kidding,' Lanna said in a mirthful tone, 'I know we don't get shot at quite _that_ often. Anyway, lets hope we got here before they did. The ship should be in the next bay."

"I wonder if the droids kept it in one piece."

"Yeah, he does have a couple of faulty logic circuits."

"A _couple?_" Darion smirked at his co pilot.

They walked the rest of the way without talking, easy in each other's company.

Eventually, they came to their ship's bay.

"Well, there she is!"

"Hey, do you-" Lanna stopped as Darion shoved her sideways. Lanna glared at him and was about to complain when he held up one hand, signalling quiet. She nodded and then went still.

They had arrived at the docking bay that the Dawn's Haze was at, to be greeted by several figures moving about in front of the ship, at least three heavily armed Black Suns agents were guarding his ship. The darkness possibly held more.

Maybe they'd spoken a little louder than they'd intended to, maybe the light had glinted off part of their outfit. it didn't really matter. what mattered was that the suns had spotted them and were drawing blasters.

"You think they saw us?" Darion whispered to his co-pilot.

One of them called out. " Throw out your blasters and come out, nice and easy!"

"Ya' think?" Lanna whispered back to Darion's previous question.

"Why?!" Darion raised his voice calling back to the Suns men.

"Because I said so. Either come out or my buddies and I will bring you out!"

"My blaster says no!"

Lanna growled, "What are you, eight years old?!"

"Listen to the lady, Mister Blade!"

"I really don't feel like walking out there into your crosshairs, pal."

"No, and neither do I."

"Alright Blade, you want to talk from in there, fine by us."

Lanna turned to Darion, ready to say something but stopped when she saw the look on his face. He was already at the conclusion she'd just reached, which was that the mercs were stalling for time, so reinforcements could arrive. "I count three, maybe four."

"Yeah, and I think they are just stalling for time anyway, probably a skiff load heading this way."

"We need a distraction…" Darion mostly said to himself.

"Okay you two, here's the deal… you sign over the ship to us and we tell our superiors we couldn't find you. That'll give you time to pay off your debt, eh?"

"No deal, seriously is everyone today out to do a little freelancing?!"

The leader of the Guards laughed. "Gotta make a living somehow!"

"I made my payment, so we'll just be on our way, no need for things to get messy."

"If you can show us your completion signal, then we can all go home, and forget about it."

"Even if I had one, I don't think so! Besides, I didn't get one, your buddy back at the cantina was out to make a little profit on her own, you want the payment, go see her!"

"The Zeltron huh?"

"Yeah thats the one."

"This is going no-where fast-" Lanna said, exasperated as she keyed her com. "Four-five-one, four-five-one, wake _up_, we need a distraction."

There were a few warbled beeps of resignation followed by an almost tired metallic voice. "One moment."

Darion craned his neck to check on Lanna and frowned when he saw what Lanna was up to. She spotted him and nodded.

"Well then, why don't we all go and see her and clean up this mess." The leader of the men responded. "Now come out, before we shoot you out."

The experienced smugglers never had the chance to respond as one of the mercs fired a warning shot that nearly took Darion's head off. He and Lanna shared a look as they both thought this was a very bad motivator for surrender.

Lanna grimaced. "They clearly have a different definition of negotiation to us..."

"Yeah, I think you're right."

At that moment there was a loud clanging sound that echoed through the docking bay, quickly followed by the sound of hydraulic servo-motors. The Black Sun agents seemed bewildered for a moment as both Darion and Lanna glanced over their cover as they realised the Dawn's Haze had powered up her engines.

"Blast them?"

"Good a time as any!"

Sounds of blaster fire echoed out into the hanger from behind the cargo crates as the smugglers made their move. One of the mercs screamed as a blaster bolt cut him down.

His commander shrugged. They'd wake the idiot up later and deduct part of his pay for the time he'd spent out of the fight. He was contemplating his new found riches when a small orb rolled to stop next to his feet. He looked at it for what seemed like an eternity, before finally realising what it was.

"Concussion gre-" Was all that managed to leave the man's lips as he was suddenly propelled through the air towards the crates near the opposite wall to Lanna and Darion, followed by a loud thumping boom. Only one guard was still conscious

"Hey Darion, this place sure is getting untidy." Lanna giggled as she skipped over the prone mercs' bodies and headed up the 'Haze's boarding ramp. "I'm heading for the ship! Cover me!"

"Right!"

Darion's support fire was rapid and accurate and another Black Suns agent fell. The remaining guard took no chances. He flung himself sideways and covered his head, throwing his blaster to one side and smiling at Darion as though they were old friends.

Darion raised an eyebrow, "And how about you?" He kept his blaster trained on the man.

"Hey, hey! I don't get paid enough to get shot. Pretend I'm not even here."

Darion half grinned, looking the man over before shrugging slightly and flicking the setting on his blaster carbine. "Sorry, pal."

The stun bolt caught the man square in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground, unconscious.

As relieved as he was a minute later to be back aboard his ship Darion knew damned fine well that more guards and bounty hunters would be on their way to his ship and cursed vociferously about this the entire time he was initiating the escape process.

"Welcome aboard sir, I took the liberty of preparing the ship. Will we expecting any visitors, bounty hunters, mercenaries, local authorities, the Hutts? Or worse... Jawas...?"

"Nope, just one droid that can easily fit into an escape pod."

"When can we expect him, sir."

Exasperated, he turned to his friend. "Lanna?"

"Four-five-one, he's being sarcastic, he meant you.."

Four-five-one beeped indignantly, then quieted.

"Boring conversation anyway."

"Let's get going!"

"Yes, let's!"

* * *

The YT-1930 freighter, with it's slightly blocky yet curved outline, cleared the atmosphere sleekly. Darion gave the order: "Punch it!"

"I would but there's an Imperial Star Destroyer in our way..."

The com crackled to life. "Corellian freighter. This is the Imperial Star Destroyer Fury's Fist, you are hereby ordered to power down your engines and prepare to be boarded. Failure to comply will result in harsh penalties."

"We just go from bad to worse, don't we?"

Darion laughed.


	2. Imperial Entanglement

**Chapter Two -** _**Imperial Entanglement **_

The Imperial Star Destroyer Fury's Fist closed on the Corellian ship.

"Captain, reports of a speeder chase and a blaster fight in the spaceport have been confirmed. A Corellian YT-1930 freighter has taken off illegally."

"Are they heading this way?"

"Yes sir."

"Move to an intercept vector and ready the tractor beam." Pennle strolled to the fore of the bridge, staring out of the forward view-ports at the white dash moving on the horizon he knew to be the inbound freighter. "Get me a communications line."

"Communications line is ready, sir." Came a curt response from a junior officer in the crew-pit.

"Corellian freighter. This is the Imperial Star Destroyer Fury's Fist. You are hereby ordered to power down your engines and prepare to be boarded. Failure to comply will result in harsh penalties."

* * *

On the fleeing Corellian ship Darion grimaced. "Evasive, Lanna!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!"

* * *

On board the Destroyer Fury's Fist Captain Laska Pennle was quietly thanking the emperor for his luck. Right now he was staring at a possible meteoric rise in rank. "You're sure about this Lieutenant?"

"Sir. Yes sir,' she said, 'it matches all known descriptions. Weapons are within stated regulations, the ones we know about but we can soon check that when we bring them aboard. I've prepared an intercept course."

"Do we have the ship's registry yet?"

"We are receiving a transmission from planetside now sir."

"Continue Lieutenant."

"The ship is the 'Dawn's Haze' a Corellian YT-1930. Captain is recorded as one Darion Blade. Suspected smuggler, possibly an alias."

"And here he is on Ord Mantell… that suspicion of smuggling is growing."

"Yes, sir."

"Ready weapons and prepare two TIE squadrons for launch." Pennle got a confirmation as he straightened his uniform. "Open communications again."

There was a moment before the officer nodded. "Line re-opened, sir."

"Dawns Haze, this is captain Pennle of the Star Destroyer Fury's Fist. You have been logged as the ship that has left the scene of a fire-fight in the local spaceport. This is your second warning. You have thirty seconds to power down engines and prepare to be boarded. Failure to comply will result in your untimely demise." Captain Pennle sounded the second warning. His mouth pursed in a tight smile he felt his ship veer to intercept.

"This is captain Blade of the Dawn's Haze, coming to a stop shortly. Our engines are over heating."

Captain Pennle was not fooled. He nodded to the forward gunner to get ready. His clipped voice carried his orders; "Helm, close our distance, prepare to cut across them."

The captain paused, his eyes staring intently at the ship ahead as his Star Destroyer surged forwards. He barked an order. "Fire a warning shot, on my mark, and lock on tractor beam as soon as they are in range." There was a moment's pause.

"Sir?" Enquired a hesitant gunnery officer from below.

The Captain curled his hand into a fist. "Mark."

* * *

The Dawn's Haze was bathed in bright green light as several turbolaser shots flashed past her hull. "Whoah!" Darion Exclaimed. He then threw the ship into a series of tight turns.

Lanna's eyes were wide. "These imps aren't kidding about, looks like they're trying to get a tractor beam lock on us."

"I ain't havin' that!"

The voice of their imperial pursuer crackled over the com. "_This is your final warning. Stand down or you will be be obliterated_."

The Dawn's Haze broke starboard into a twisting spin that ended with them headed straight at the wedge shaped Destroyer ahead of them, as the pilot of the ship attempted to avoid the tractor beam lock the best way he knew how. _Get close_.

* * *

"Sir they are making a run for it."

"Lock on tractor beam, _now_."

"We cannot get a lock. They're moving too fast."

"Weapons. Fire at will, and launch fighters. Come about heading three two one, mark one three seven, angle sixty degrees."

"Coming to heading now."

* * *

Two more turbo laser shots shook the Dawn's Haze. Darion and Lanna both felt the jolt and watched as the power readings fluctuated, and eventually settled. Lanna worked to even out the shields, but did note that the hyperdrive was leaking power now.

"Darion, we might have a problem." She stated, her look a grimace.

"Well we've got a great big wedge shaped problem, so this other problem can wait!"

Turbolaser blasts continued to flash in on their ship, as the Destroyer opened up on them in force. Darion snarled in frustration. "Damn-it! Four-five-one we need an escape vector, calculate a possible destination."

"Darion, that last shot was on target, shields won't hold much longer and if one of those Ion cannons-!"

"Tin Can!"

"Calculating is prioritised sir! Note: if we do not stay on a singular heading-"

Lanna almost screamed at the droid in frustration. "Just get on with it!"

"I don't know if you've noticed TIn Can but that Destroyer is gaining real fast." Darion added..

"At least they can't fire without risking hitting their o-'" Darion said, but was was cut short by the Haze lurching again as two neon-green turbolaser bolts from the Fury's Fist, narrowly missed the ship. The bolts exploded into two of the chasing TIE fighters.

Darion's face burned with embarrassment. "Right, Imps. At least they're doing some of the work for us. Now hang onto something!"

"What?"

"Sirs" queried four five one.

"_Everyone_ _hang on_!"

The Dawn's Haze dove planetwards for the briefest of moments, as it continued to spin on it's axis. Halting almost all it's momentum, the Haze accelerated towards the large Destroyer in their way, and flew under her. The TIE's that had been in pursuit snapped off a few shots before scattering out of the way.

Darion added to the insanity by maneuvering their ship towards the would be captor's engines; a plan in mind. If this didn't work he didn't want to think about the consequences.

* * *

Proximity alerts bellowed on the bridge of the Fury's Fist, making Captain Pennle's eyes go wide. He gestured frantically towards his helmswoman who was seeing the same readings and her fingers were practically sabre-dancing over the helm controls.

"Divert power to rear deflectors! The fools are going to try and come round us!" He paused and turned his head towards the crew-pits. "I want a squadron of TIEs there now!"

He got a chorus of positive responses as the officers worked to carry out his orders.

* * *

Alarms blared from the cockpit of the Dawn's Haze as the freighter was skillfully brought close to the the larger ship, spinning between the outcroppings of the Star Destroyer's frame, and keeping close to her.

"If we get any closer Darion, we'll be skimming Stormtroopers!"

"I wanted to wave as we flew past."

"Really?" Lanna sighed and returned her attention to the weapons controls. "More TIEs incoming, looks like a squadron."

Darion didn't respond immediately as he threw the Haze into a climb, along the Destroyer's aft. "We'll be gone before they get here."

"You hope."

Four-five-one chimed in with his credits worth; "I calculate the possibility of this maneuver to be successful at approximately one-"

Lanna snarled at the droid. "Droid, this is your last warning!"

"Lanna, you ready with the seismic-charge?"

He got a curt nod which he didn't actually see due to concentrating on flying the craft, but he knew her well enough to know she'd be ready as soon as he had them pointing in the the right direction. "Now!"

* * *

There was a blue flash followed by the dull rubber-banding sound of detonation vibrating through the Imperial ship; her shields absorbing the worst of the effect. This was still enough to disorient them momentarily. Pennle blinked and when he looked back to the view screen, It showed a dissipating energy wave, quickly fading to the pin-pricked blackness of space.

"Report!"

"That was a seismic detonation, sir. Looks like it was dropped on to our rear shields. Aft sensors are down. Shields too. We have minor damage to the hull. And sir," there was a moment's pause as the officer was checking his screen, "we've lost them."

Captain Pennle eyed his underling and looked like he was about to gun him down, but slumped a little instead. "Calculate every possible destination along their last known trajectory."

A female officer turned to him. "Yes, sir."

Pennle walked to the rear of the bridge, speaking in a clipped and hurried manner to the communications officer there. "Send out a wide-band alert to all near-by sectors. Include everything we have about that ship and crew."

* * *

Quila Firane paced impatiently as she waited to see her employer. She really hated waiting, it just wasn't in her nature. Waiting usually meant your host was demonstrating their power.

Eventually she stopped pacing, returning to studying the ornately carved doors in front of her. She knew that a rather large amount of credits would have been involved to get such Coruscanti artistry to Ord Mantell, and would be well above her pay grade. Not to mention; that door could probably stand up to the heaviest of blaster impacts.

Two Black Suns Agents were positioned on either side of those doors, cooly eyeing her for threat assessment. Quila had taken in in their filter masks earlier and knew her native advantage had been accounted for. Her hand strayed to her hip, as she regarded them again.

"Boss said you were sharp, but I wouldn't put too fine a point on it." The filtered voice of the guard disturbed the awkward silence that had descended.

Quila slowly inched her hand away from her weapon and forced herself to relax, knowing that

there was slim hope of her taking them both down.

After a few more minutes, the heavy wooden doors parted and soft light spilled in. A gruff and displeased voice sounded, calling on Quila to enter. She wearily stared towards the doorway, and took a moment to compose herself before stepping forwards.

The room wasn't quite as dimly lit as the area she had just vacated, and was about as ornate as the doors had been. She could feel the guards following her behind silently. Quila's skills of perception told her that they had taken up positions on the inner side of the doorway, cutting off any escape route but otherwise leaving her be.

In a slightly raised section of the room, was a rather large wooden desk, with a bulky man sitting behind it. Greer Najoll was smiling, in a manner reminiscent of a Vornskr.

"Ah, miss Firane, it has not been a good day for you, has it darlin'?" Greer asked in a deceptively pleasant manner. The faked formality did not perturb Quila for an instant.

"I suppose not. Yet, I am surprised you let me in here armed." She responded, her voice calm, and soft.

Najoll did not seem even slightly bothered by what she said as he continued; "Tell me, What the hell is going on? we have imperials all over the spaceport and dead mercs all across the city.. and I don't mean a dead merc here and a dead merc there, I damn well mean one bit of merc in one district and another in the one two hundred metres away!"

"Well, you see,when speeders collide…."

Greer's fist slammed into the table. "I don't give a damn what speeders do when they collide.. did you get the payment?"

"They never made the payment _to us_."

"Might that be because you tried to take it yourself, you red skinned _schutta_?" Greer locked eyes with Quila, and she matched his gaze, unfazed by being called the Huttese word for whore. This was something she'd been called a lot in her life for a variety of reasons, some even accurate; but she did not let her mind dwell on this. Greer was one of the few people that could get away with calling her this. Their game continued.

"Perhaps." She responded almost blankly. It didn't seem to her that Greer knew Darion had transferred the credits to her, only that she'd tried to swindle the smuggler; she really hoped that Greer thought she'd failed. A smile creased her lips slowly, and she looked at Greer. "I _tried_."

"And?" He asked, the implication obvious. He knew her well enough after some of the evenings they'd spent together. Some rather intimate evenings to be precise. He smiled at her as he took a swig from a drink he had on his desk.

"What do you think?" She responded, almost too quickly, and she inwardly cursed. She was rubbing gently at a burn-mark from a near miss on her arm, trying to appear wounded in both her pride.

Greer nodded. "You'd better leave."

Quila stopped. "What about Darion Blade?"

Greer snorted. "He ain't your problem no more. It's us he owes credits to, and is hardly important right now. We have Imperials all over the block. You stirred up the mynocks, and they get real agitated when they're disturbed."

Greer strode to his window and looked out over his territory and paused. For half a moment, Quila honestly couldn't tell if he was talking about actual mynocks or the Imperials.

Greer frowned and continued. "We're gonna have to have to sweet'n the local Imps, or they'll be knocking over our operations for months," he said mostly to himself, before turning back to her; "and all 'cause you _botched _a job trying to get creative. Well, we won't be assigning you to anything for a while. Come to think of it, suspension seems like a good way to give you time to reflect."

Greer motioned to the guards to escort her out. "Now get out of here, and don't come back without somethin' to show."

Quila let herself be escorted out, and her mind raced. Suspension was just the face of it all, with the Imperials breathing down their necks now, she was sure that Xizor would soon take interest, and then her life expectancy would dwindle; rapidly.

Quila's mind raced and as she was was ejected from Greer's 'office', she heard the sound of a holo-com activating, and the burly man's voice carried after her. "Yeah, put out a bounty on The Dawn's Haze' and its crew. What? Yeah, open season. Bring the ship back if possible."

So, she was officially no-longer a Black Suns Agent for the duration and that meant work options were limited. She wondered for the briefest of moments if Greer had just thrown her a bone. He must have known she could still hear him, and he did say; _don't come back without somethin' to show_.

Besides, there was a man out there that she had a score to settle with, and now she had a good reason to go after him. _Darion Blade_ and the bounty would be hers, one way or the other.

* * *

Greer sat in his office thinking about Quila. He had a soft-spot for her, like a Tuskan Raider for his Bantha. "You really did it this time, darlin'."

His mind didn't wonder on that for long, as the holoprojector on his desk came to life. He was quickly made aware of how much trouble the Zeltron had gotten him into. The holo in front of him had just announced a visit from Guri, and he knew full well, who that was. Worse still, he had a fair idea why she was here. "Very well, inform my personal guard to take the night off."

He switched off the holoprojector and slumped back behind his desk. He'd lost enough people for one night.

* * *

Elsewhere the Dawn's Haze spluttered out of Hyperspace, into a slow tumble, as the two confused pilots (and one slightly faulty Astromech) were wondering what had just happened.

The first thing that was obvious was that this was not where they had intended to be, in fact it was no-where. Currently they were hanging in deep space.

"Darion, power readings are fluctuating all over the damned place! Looks like that last turbo laser hit fried the primary hyperdrive motivators. We won't be going anywhere fast."

Darion looked over his controls. "That last hit caused a feed-back through the main power circuits, we've got systems down and the back-ups are frozen."

Lanna sighed, stretching slightly as she rose from the her position and glanced at Darion. "I think now would be a good time to relax."

"And repair?" Darion muttered, mostly to himself, pretty much responding from habit.

Four-five-one trundled out his input in his usual monotone fashion; "and reassess."

Darion grinned at this. Even the droid was on the ball. "Well, there we have it ladies, and bolts. I'll get on with repairing the circuits to the back-up hyperdrive. Lanna you take Four-five-one and get us back up and running."

"Proceeding with emergency maintenance." Came the droid's tones as Lanna and it made their way, rear of the cockpit.

"Ugh," Lanna half snorted, "I really shouldn't have purchased a droid with a voice modulator. Hey, Darion remind me to remove it, at some point would you?"

"With pleasure." He responded." Right, it's time to get to work. Now," Darion said quietly, "where did I leave those hydrospanners?"

* * *

On Ord mantell, Greer was close to panicking. This was not how it should be, people were supposed to fear him, and yet this accursed female was the one thing in the galaxy he feared. He knew exactly who she was and what she was capable of. Guri, right hand to Prince Xizor himself, was currently leaning over Greer's desk perusing all his records.

She was well known throughout the organisation for being close to ruthless, but none-the-less efficient; carrying out the Prince's orders without question, and keeping the underlings in line. She was an assassin. Greer had heard the stories. Some said that she had been sent to assassinate Xizor himself, but he had caught her and convinced her to join the Black Sun's and to eliminate her original employers.

She was believed by many to be the actual head of Black Suns, but Greer knew otherwise, but she was still his boss, technically. What was not known to him (and many others) was that Guri, as she was known, was a Human Replica droid programmed to be an assassin; and a damn good one.

The heavy-set man had nearly fled his own office when she turned up, but he knew that would severely curtail his own livelihood. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face, and he wiped it away with his hand. Guri was talking to him, and with each passing sentence he had to resist the urge to inch closer to the doubled oak doors to his office.

"So, a missed payment. A lost shipment. An escaped quarry. _Imperial_ involvement. A chase through the city, and several destroyed speeders. Not to mention the shoot-out at the spaceport. Quite the public spectacle we have here. Well, what have you to say for yourself?"

Guri's expression was seemingly neutral, though Greer knew she had probably calculated the best ways to despatch him already. He just wondered why he was still alive. He stuttered the first time he tried to answer and then pulled himself together. Initially he couldn't find the words, but eventually they found him. He locked eyes with Guri.

"I followed all procedures regarding an operation like this. When things turned sour as they sometimes do in our line of work, I-"

Guri walked around the desk, and closed in on the man, who swallowed his own words. she spoke slowly, "What I am hearing is just an excuse. This is not how we handle these situations is it."

It was not a question. She made that abundantly clear as she continued; "I believe there was an agent in charge on the ground. Her name, please." Greer was backed the few metres into the wall to the rear of his desk with a slight thud, as the human replica droid deftly closed the space between them.

"I took action following the protocols. What else was I supposed to do? I used an operative with a clear record; I chose her because of her efficiency with male targets. We had no reason to foresee this kind of fiasco." He said, in defense of his decision.

"Your agent failed to take into account any sort of outside accomplice. Especially considering the kind of man Darion Blade is." She stated coldly, a hand on his chest pressing him slightly into the wall.

Guri's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the man, carefully turning around and putting the datapad back on his own desk, now facing away from him, hand still pressed to his chest. "Her name."

Greer spoke quickly; "She acted on the intelligence that she was given, there was no mention of a third party. I've cancelled her from assignments until this mess has cleared up."

"That is hardly the standard punishment for betrayal, is it?" The blonde woman stared Intently into Greer's eyes, one eyebrow raised.

"Betrayal?" Greer asked blankly.

"You heard me quite clearly, Greer. Trying to freelance in this organisation is not tolerated. I suggest you cease wasting my time. You seem to be avoiding the one thing you haven't given me. I do hope it's not because of your relationship with Miss Firane."

"My rel-" Greer's eyes went vacant for a moment, before they hardened. "That is of no consequence."

"Everything is of consequence to me, Chief Greer. Is that clear." Guri's eyes were icy blue as she spoke, stepping away from the man.

"Like a colonically irrigated Hutt." Greer answered as his eyes narrowed. "Care to enlight'n me as to what you actually want, it's damned obvious you know everything already?"

"Where is the Zeltron now?"

Greer swallowed the cold, hard lump of fear that had formed in his throat and opened his mouth to speak. "I suspended her, and she left a short while ago." His voice was shaky at best.

"Then I have all the information I need. Now leave." This told him all he needed to know about his position, and the current ownership of his office. He didn't ponder that for longer than a moment, as he made a swift exit from the assassin's presence.

Guri settled into her new (temporary) office.

* * *

"Incoming communication from Ord Mantell."

A tired, almost elderly man, in a gray Imperial uniform, with the rank of Moff, walked slowly over to the communication officer's location. "Who is it?"

There was a moment before the officer responded. "A high priority transmission from the Victory-class Star Destroyer Fury's Fist, a Captain Pennle."

"Go ahead Lieutenant." The screen filled with the image of Captain Pennle, with the backdrop of his bridge behind him. "You are speaking to Moff Renel, Captain. Try to keep this message to the point. I am a busy man."

"Of-course. A cargo freighter has left the Ord Mantell system, and is wanted by the local authorities here. It is believed to be carrying stolen Imperial equipment, though that is uncertain at this time. Based on their last known trajectory before we lost them, they may be heading to the Talegia system. A representative of the Black Suns Organisation tipped off the local security force here and we attempted to intercept the fleeing ship."

"I'm sorry captain, you 'lost' them?"

Pennle blanched. "Yes, governor."

"Rather hopeless of you. And why should this bother us?" The Moff's voice was mildly impatient.

"I am sorry. I have sent a general alert out to all the near-by systems to be on the lookout." Came the metallic voice of Pennle, from the com.

"Very well, then. I hope we catch this rabble. Moff Renel out." The officer on the other end saluted as the screen faded to the logo of the Empire. "I suppose we are not exactly busy here, have Admiral Vassisk put the fleet on alert. Commander Heiss; I will be heading up the the shipyards momentarily. You have things down here till I am back."

"Of course, Governor." The Commander watched as Renel strode out of the command room.

* * *

Darion sighed as he sifted through the overly warm circuitry, throwing out a melted transponder as he called to Lanna.

"Lanna! One of those hits definitely caused a short in the hyperdrive motivator, the thing's fried. We're gonna need to set down before we can make repairs, provided there are no Mynocks. And shields- we'll manage, but thrusters are good."

"Sir," began Four-five-one, "It has come to my attention that damage is extensive. It will take approximately one day, eight hours, thirty-six minutes, and twelve-point-seven seconds, to make the necessary alterations."

Darion smirked, and cast a glance over to his co-pilot standing a few metres away at the control console. "Approximately, huh?"

"I left out nanoseconds." The droid responded.

Darion looked back to the droid. "Y'know, I'm beginning to like him. He completely gets sarcasm."

Lanna almost cringed, and turned her attention to the problem at hand, ignoring them both. "So, the Hyperdrive motivator is damaged, but the GCB power couplings in the secondary system have been replaced, so at least we have the back-up. But, it's gonna take us at least a day to the nearest habitable planet."

She paused and looked over both of them before shrugging. "I'm going to the cockpit."

Darion let out a groan, and half spoke to himself as he reviewed the spare parts on the deck. "That's longer than I expected. I assume we have some possible destinations?"

"Accessing Navigational Systems-"

"Well at least something's working." Darion muttered, as he climbed out of the hyperdrive's innards.

"I suggest-" The droid began, but was almost immediately cut off by Lanna's voice.

Lanna could be heard chuckling from the cockpit, before her voice followed over the intercom; "I have a suggestion too, but you go first."

"Of course mistress. I suggest we go to the Talegia system, which remains within the Hyperdrive's capacity, specifically Talegia six. I recommend landing planetside to make the necessary repairs."

"Alright. Lanna," he called, "any information on the Talegia system?"

Lanna's voice came back over the com. "It's a relatively out of the way world, with a varied population of travellers, usually Twi'lek traders. It shouldn't pose a problem for us. Unless you hate Twi'lek cooking."

"Ma'am, you had a suggestion for me?" The astro-droid asked.

"Yeah, why don't you yank that vocal-modulator out of your innards." There was a moment of silence, before Lanna's voice returned, softer. "Are we going then?"

Darion took a moment, before patting the droid. "Not much choice really, fire her up. I'll be there in a sec." He gathered the tools and crouched down by the droid. "Looks like you're in charge now, four-five-one. Good going buddy." He smiled, and then headed to rejoin Lanna at the helm.


	3. A Stunning Reception

**Chapter Three - **_**A Warm Reception**_

Moff Arid Renel watched as a wide shaft of intensely bright energy lanced down from Lower Planetary Orbit, its accuracy quite satisfying to him. It seemed that the targeting computers had now been correctly calibrated and synchronised to fire control. It had taken time but they had adhered to their strict schedule. A schedule that Renel had known would be checked on, and in fact they were ahead of it. He hadn't risen this far without being aware of the Emperor's caprices.

Renel smirked as he recalled Vader's last visit, still fresh in his memory. That accursed sorcerer got everywhere. They had been taken by surprise but nonetheless addressed Vader's concerns adroitly.

Solid footsteps broke his reverie and he tilted his head to see Commander Kellan Heiss approach in his usual measured strides.

"Well Heiss, isn't it a thing of brilliance?" Governor Renel smiled brightly as he queried his subordinate.

Heiss appeared disinterested, and sounded as much. "Yes sir, I believe that is what you told me and I can think of no good reason to argue."

"Amusingly bored, aren't you commander?

Heiss smiled at his superior, regarding him as he responded. "If you say so sir."

Renel smiled. He was constantly amused by the verbal agility Heiss possessed.

As they spoke, an explosion spat up ground and its sound reverberated outwards, reaching them at a near deafening level. Heiss turned to the Governor and raised an eyebrow. "That must have been at least sixty kilometres away."

"Very good." Renel leaned over the railing a little, shaking his head as he looked out at the dust now swirling into the sky. "In fact it was just over fifty kilometres, the maximum distance for a safe yet still effective observation."

Heiss nodded, and watched as the plume of dust was picked up by the wind currents high above, creating an odd painted-looking pattern to the sky. "Yes, sir."

"It's the new array, incorporating my own targeting design of course." Renel continued, his voice laced with pride at his destructive work of art.

"Hm." Heiss nodded, noting the distance mentally. "Nicely done then, governor. Truly a feat worthy of your predecessor."

Renel took a step back from the railing, and breathed in straightening himself. His eyes hardened. "My predecessor..."

"Yes sir. Moff Teivel wasn't it?"

"Moff Teivel." Renel sneered, stressing the name as though crushing it between his teeth. "The fool."

Heiss hesitated. "Sir?"

"It matters not, Kellan. The mistakes of the few, and of the past, do not afflict us. We move forwards; towards the Emperor's true design. That is our purpose here, and the only one you need contend yourself with."

Despite himself, Heiss was impressed. Renel had overcome the setback and more than that, he had gained time. Still, as mildly interesting as this was, he had other matters to broach.

"Sir." He affirmed.

"Now, I fear you did not come here to gaze at our operations, nor reminisce." Renel said softly, turning his attention back to the railing and beyond. "Report."

"A craft entered the system a short while ago, and made landfall. I've had one of our Stealth units _shadowing_ them." There was a molecule of mirth in Heiss's tone.

"I assume you have everything in hand, and that is why you have not informed me sooner?" Renel's voice had a cold edge to it.

Heiss hesitated for a moment, but covered it well with a clipped tone. "Had I known your exact whereabouts at the time, you would have been informed sooner. However as you say, I have it well in hand, sir."

Heiss continued calmly. "We believe that this ship is the Dawn's Haze. The YT-1930 freighter that blasted out of the Ord Mantell system several days ago. It seems they haven't detected any of our facilities, so a discrete response was prudent. It will however, make for an interesting test of the new Stealth armour."

Renel nodded and both imperials returned to witnessing the second test firing of the _reverberation_ beam.

* * *

Leaves rustled in the wind, and the sounds of the forest filled Lieutenant Jarex's ears. He was laying in the dirt, about thirty metres away from the low-key boxy outline of the Dawn's Haze in the clearing beyond. The scope of his laser sniper rifle was currently sighted on the two individuals who seemed to be striding about, arguing over some power couplings.

He hand signalled his detachment and he barely heard two of his troopers move past him. Their movements were nearly silent as they moved ghostlike into position. Only their close proximity had allowed him to detect their movement, his heads-up-display however told him the rest of the squad were slowly encircling their quarry.

His sergeant took up a kneeling position in one smooth movement beside him. Jarex gave him a slow look, taking in the subtleties of how the light reactive scout armour shifted its colours to match the sunlight currently splashing over it. This was separated by dark earthen colours matching the dirt beneath them.

They exchanged nods and the sergeant tapped at the flat panel on his arm plate. Jarex knew that he was merely matching signal frequency to the jamming field they had afflicting the area.

Suddenly his voice broke over the com. "Looks like it is definitely just the two of them, no other life-forms. That ship matches the description command gave us."

Jarex tapped his arm plate. "Copy that. Looks like we keep an eye on them for now."

Sergeant Vikram nodded.

"Darion, I _told_ you we needed a new ship. Will you finally listen to me now?!" Lanna's voice echoed through the clearing as she spun on Darion, tossing the burnt-out power modulator back at him. "Well?"

"You can tell me we need a new ship until you're space sick, but you know as well as I do, we never have the creds for one anyway." He retorted, catching the module and dropping it into the box of junked parts he'd left by his feet. "Besides, I wasn't expecting to have to fly through an angry Imperial Star Destroyer." Darion paused and looked straight at his partner. "Come to think of it, for a ship you keep trash talking, she's seen us through often enough."

"Too often if you ask me." She muttered in frustration as she pulled out another damaged module from the carbon-scored crater on the lower-hull. "And most people would say _trade your old ship_ in, but what would we get?

Darion twitched as he caught the second module thrown at him by the rather irate Lanna. "I- uh." He stammered.

"I'll tell you what we'd get; stranded, that's what!."

"Okay." Darion quietly breathed the word in an attempt to shrug off his pilot's vitriol. He pulled out a new module and walked over and handed it to her. "Look, all we have to do is fix the hyperdrive."

"And I'm telling you that this thing is fried. We'll be lucky to take off at all, never mind jump back into hyperspace." She growled.

"Funny."

"I'll tell you what's funny, no wait." She pulled out her com unit. "I'll get Four-five-one to tell you what's funny instead." She stood away from the blackened laser scoring and held up her comlink. "I'll do it. I'm sure he'll love to tell you all about the time when he-"

Darion gave up, making an exasperated sound. "Lanna. Enough." His tone brooked no argument and Lanna blinked. She rarely heard that tone and she knew she'd overdone it.

Darion understood his friend was irritated and tired but so was he, and he'd had about enough of being a target. Friend or not; partner or not, there was still a time to remind Lanna which one of them was the captain of the ship.

"We can discuss this another time, but for now I'm making it an order."

"Roger, roger." Lanna smirked, as she mimicked the tones of a decade old battle droid.

Darion's eyes narrowed at her and he almost grinned. "Don't you quote the clone wars at me."

Lanna paused then after thinking about it, and answered, "Yeah, I see your point. That holo series they made about them was pretty dire."

"Do you mean the originals or the remakes?"

They stopped talking, realising what they'd done and then burst out laughing.

He finally shrugged. "Let's get back to work. Huh?"

"Roger roger."

"Quit it."

"Alright." Lanna wiped her hands on a cloth and then opened up her com, "Four-five-one?"

There was a few moments before his metallic and modulated tones warbled over the com in Lanna's hand. "Mistress?"

"How are we looking with the sensors, did you get them back online?"

"Well." Was the droid's only word.

"Well what?"

"The sensors are repaired. But do not appear functional. I'm not detecting any arboreal life forms one would associate with an area such as this mistress, neither with the ship's sensors, nor my own scanners."

Suspicion was growing in her mind now that she knew it wasn't just a sensor fault. Those strange readings Four-five-one'd told her about on their way in, added weight to what she was now thinking. "Darion, I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Why? The droid said there's nothing around."

Lanna lowered her voice. "Those birds over there tell me differently."

"Thats a point." Darion half mumbled casting a glance around, trying to catch a glimpse of anything hostile. "Probably faulty sensors, just forget it." Darion said, having raised his voice back to normal levels.

"Hyperdrive?" Lanna asked holding out one hand to bring another blackened module over the cusp of the hull damage.

_Unseen by the two suspicious smugglers, trained imperial eyes were upon them._

* * *

The Stealthtrooper had been paying attention to Darion and Lanna, and had eased her rifle into position when they had seemed suspicious. She carefully monitored them, but when the two smugglers returned to their tasks, she reached up and tapped her com.

"Sir, Sphix here. Seems like our friends might have noticed something. Shouldn't we move now?"

Jarex's concise words came back at her. "TL-227-A, thank you for the obvious statement, now keep radio silence and refrain from personal comments. Out." He double clicked his com, a signal that informed his squad that these orders stood for all of them. They knew the rules of engagement; _communications silence_.

On the other side where Vikram and Jarex kept vigil, the trooper standing in front of them simply nodded his head and switched to basic hand signals.

The trooper to the left of Vikram nodded at the unspoken command, and with practised ease, made his way towards Sphix's location, undetected by the smuggler duo.

Jarex didn't contemplate Vikram's action for long as the com crackled in his ear, and a measured voice spoke. "Lieutenant Jarex, report."

The commander of the stealth unit answered quietly, noting that Commander Heiss had spoken softly but still managed to convey his order quite clearly. He breathed in slowly. "We've located the intruders sir, though they may be aware of our presence."

"I think you have waited long enough. _Subdu_e them and bring them back for interrogation. Contact base when you have the targets secured."

"At once, commander." Jarex heard the com go silent, and he gave the signal.

Darion read Lanna's message she'd written on the data pad as she talked about how they were doing with the hyperdrive. '_Pretty sure we have company but whoever they might be they're good. I can't get a visual at all._'

Darion nodded his head as he handed the datapad back to her. He spoke aloud. "Yeah, looks like your hunch was right. The main sensors are junk. I reckon background radiation has overwhelmed them. Not really surprising after what we've put them through."

In the nearby foliage, their currently dark green and brown armour blending expertly with the surrounding greenery, three troopers were carefully lining up their rifles.

Lanna looked around at the trees before speaking and had she known it her gaze swept over one of the concealed troopers. "So our next stop is to pry them loose and if that doesn't work, _blast_ them off_?_"

"I think I can see what you mean." Darion agreed, flexing his right hand. His voice sounded tired for a moment. "On three?"

They poised over the access covering, as Lanna counted, both of them saying _three_ in unison.

The two smugglers turned simultaneously, blasters in hand; pointed out towards the edge of the clearing. Something unnatural in the foliage caught Darion's attention, and even as his aim rapidly shifted, the blue ring of a stun bolt leapt out from there, catching Lanna in the shoulder. The stun bolt spun Lanna around, dropping her face first to the ground with a whimper. Darion snapped off a shot into the shadows.

As his bolt flashed through the air, the other two trooper's stun bolts enveloped him. The last thing Darion remembered was the sound of a trooper's almost distant scream as darkness took hold.

The Stealthtroopers pushed their way into the clearing almost noiselessly. They quickly but cautiously scanned the vicinity before proceeding towards the Dawn's Haze.

Onboard, Four-five-one shook himself, worried about his masters momentarily, before worrying about his own fate. After split second deliberation, he settled on a plan and proceeded to lock himself into one of the smuggling compartments, hoping that they would overlook him. He temporarily shut himself down to avoid any scanners that the trespassers might have. Even though the compartment was shielded against such devices, the droid wasn't taking any chances.

Outside, the troopers expertly moved in. "Good work." Jarex affirmed, as he approached the two men standing over the still forms of Darion and Lanna. "Secure these two whilst I coordinate the confiscation of this vessel."

He paused and activated his main comlink. "Aurek squad to base. We have secured the intruders, and have suffered one squad member down. Proceeding with securing the ship."

"Copy that TL-117-A, we will be sending a detachment and a transport skiff to your location. Stand by."

Jarex pointed towards the ship and watched as two of his squad expertly breached the craft.

Vikram, had knelt down across from the lieutenant, to help one of his subordinates bind Darion properly. "Smuggler scum."

* * *

The late afternoon sun filtered through the windows into the office. Greer looked over the file Guri had passed to him, and then placed it back onto _his_ desk. "So, what do you want me to do about it?" He drawled, as he stood before her.

"I want you to make Quila believe that her escape is genuine enough without cause for too many questions in her mind." Guri explained. She was sitting in _his_ chair, and she was taking great pleasure in his slight apprehension. She continued; "You will then track her movements and keep me informed."

"Why do you need _me_ doing it?"

"You are in fact partially responsible for this situation we have here. I am simply giving you the opportunity to correct it. I strongly advise you take it."

"Alright, you got it but what's going to happen to Quila, I kinda gotta ask?"

Guri studied the large man, and responded. "That will depend on numerous as yet to be decided factors. However, disappearing may be her best option."

"Kill her eh?" Greer sounded resigned.

"No, I said disappear. She is still useful to us. If we make her believe we want her dead, it will create the opportunity for us to extend her a _favour_, one which can not so easily be repaid." Guri paused then stared straight into Greer's eyes. "And Mr Najoll?"

She watched as the heavy-set man tensed. Her words betrayed the temperature of her heart. "Twist my words again, and I will twist _that_ Hutt sized tongue from your mouth."

Greer gulped at the sudden change in temperament, "Understood."

Her eyes narrowed. "Then why are you still standing there, please get on with it."

For a moment Greer seemed to be fixed to the spot, and with all the grace of a Bantha, barged out through the ornate doors. His fist was clenched with rage at being spoken to like that in _his_ own office, by this hussy. How dare she, he didn't care who she was. How was he supposed to command respect from his employees if she continued to treat him this way.

* * *

The guard was bored, the evening light was dimming. Time was dragging, and with little to occupy his mind, and a deserted hallway to patrol, time just seemed to stay still.

That was until he heard footsteps other than his own, echo down the hallway at him. For a brief moment he was convinced he was imagining it, that he was merely remembering his own footfalls on the duracrete. His mind quickly abated from that thought, as he spotted the red skinned beauty walking around as though she owned the spaceport.

His hand hesitated a moment on the low wall to his left as he watched her walk straight across the the empty bay, wondering whether or not he should be stopping her, before his mind finally caught up with reality.

"Hey you!" He called. "You know you ain't authorised to be around here?" The security guard tried to get the Zeltron's attention, striding rapidly towards her to catch up. He quickly covered the distance between them, falling into step with her even as she waltzed towards the landing bays. "Hey, didn't you hear me?"

Quila turned towards him and gave the man a clueless look, while backpedaling slowly, allowing him to close the distance.

"Yeah honey, you. Now, would ya stop, please?" The guard waved for her to stop, and she obliged. He sighed in slight annoyance. "Don't tell me. Let me guess, you got lost, huh?"

She gave him a much practised smile. "I'm sorry." Her voice feigned apology..

"You have to know this port is on lockdown." He continued, reaching to his equipment belt and pulling a pair of binders from their pouch. "No civvies, in or out."

"I'm not a civilian." She said, without any elaboration.

The security guard looked hesitant for a moment as he studied her, then he reached for her hands, "Be that as it may, you're still gonna have to come with me, Red."

She presented her hands, as her mind raced a little, looking for the most expedient way to resolve this _situation_. She looked at the handcuffs as they clacked shut around one of her wrists. He pulled her arm around to her back turning her around, and reached for her other arm.

With a little trepidation, and faster than he'd have expected she'd whirled face him before he had cuffed her other wrist. "That's not necessary, officer. I am sure we can come to another _arrangement_," she purred, placing the hand free hand on his face, bringing him in for a kiss.

For a moment Ral enjoyed the kiss (as did Quila), his mind suddenly null to thoughts of bringing her in. In fact his mind was on much more pleasurable ideas. After Quila broke the kiss, he felt a little tipsy, and clouded, but he finally remembered that she'd made a proposition.

"Maybe we can make a deal after all. I have something in mind." He said, giddily.

Quila smiled at the poor fool, "Oh?" She asked, as she let him lead her by the one cuffed wrist. She let him bring her closer to the wall. "I know what I am going to do to you in five seconds." She said seductively.

He pulled her towards the security booth inset near the bay's rear. "Oh yeah?" He laughed, all manner of dirty thoughts coming to his mind.

"I am going to brush my hands against your face, and then smash it into this wall." She said, in the same seductive voice, hand already on his face.

"Oh? Oh-" His eye's widened, as he realised what she had just said.

There was a muffled scream and a dull sound as his head collided with the wall with enough force to render him unconscious. Uncaring, Quila proceeded to unlock her cuffs using his passkey.

A short distance away, and unbeknownst to the dangerously seductive Zeltron, a man watched. His large frame deftly hidden from her sight from his position on the roof overlooking her ship. Greer had always known where she'd kept her ship, even though Quila had gone through pains to keep a distance from it.

He'd had her tailed on a few occasions, and even had a tracking device planted on board her ship. It paid to have an insurance policy, even on someone you _cared_ about.

Guri as far as Greer knew, didn't know this; and if Greer could, he'd keep it that way.

* * *

It was an hour later when the cargo-skiffs had finally brought back the Dawn Haze, to the Imperial facility. The squad of troopers that had been tasked with bringing in the prisoners were met by commander Heiss.

The officer half dressed in an imperial uniform and the white plastoid armour of a Storm trooper looked over the semi-unconscious forms of Darion and Lanna and shook his head. "Take them to holding cell AA-Twenty-three."

"Yes, sir." Came the lead troopers response, "Okay, lets move."

"And trooper?" Heiss added the order.

"Sir?"

"Do remember to have them searched thoroughly this time, I do not want a repeat of what happened to our last _guests_."

No more words were needed and the troopers carried out the task. Heiss watched as they took their prisoners towards the cells, and pulled up his com. "Moff Renel. Our guests are in custody, and are being processed."

"Into cheese no doubt, if you are down there." The sound of Renel's sigh emanated from the small hand held device. "I will be down momentarily. Have an escort squad standing by at landing platform twelve."

"Of course sir. Is everything okay with the fleet?"

"Just Admiral Krask's usual temperament. He is quite _contempt_ to have to sit and keep watch over a hidden construction yard."

"By it's very nature, that does make his job rather pointless does it not?" The commander said with a little mirth.

Renel's chuckle was heard over the com, and Heiss could tell he'd conceded. "That is indeed a point, commander." Renel said, "Nevertheless, his assigned task is to protect and oversee space operations, and that is the duty he must perform. I will see you shortly, Renel out."

Heiss lowered the com, and then started off to arrange the welcome party. He knew that the Governor relied on him, a lot more than most Imperial leaders, especially those that weren't actively shoving their subordinates out of airlocks when they made a mistake.

The commander paid attention to what went on around him, and to the concerns of his superiors. He prided himself on never having made the kinds of mistakes that warranted _permanent_ punishment. Any Imperial officer that did that was surely a fool; a fool such as Krask.

At the detainment area, the troopers filed through, pushing their charges on rudimentary hover-beds. Darion could feel the cold metal under his cheek as he dimly regained some awareness of his surroundings.

He could hear unintelligible, and almost muffled sounding voices carrying through his stun induced stupor. He wasn't quite conscious enough to move yet; but his mind was awakening to his new surroundings. The words became clearer after what seemed like an eternity, but he found that he was still unable to move.

He managed to make out a few words such as _two_, _searched _and _cells _before drifting back into oblivion.

It was obviously a while later, and the room was dark, with an uncomfortable chill in the air. Darion groaned. The chill wasn't just the temperature, the look Lanna was giving him was pretty damned icy too. He grimaced as he propped himself up on aching arms and looked around.

His cellmate was not impressed as she looked around. Their cell was small and if that wasn't bad enough, her head throbbed. Lanna's mood was even worse and she knew exactly who to blame, whether it was his fault or not didn't matter in the damned slightest, she was blaming… _the droid_. But since he wasn't there, Darion would have to do.

She fixed _Darion_ with a hard stared, and finally broke the silence, her tone that of mocked friendliness. "Vacation huh?"

Darion, who had been looking around now returned her gaze, with a lopsided grin. "Well..."

"At least you're consistent." She muttered, almost under her breath.

"Huh?"

"I said," she began louder, "at least you're consistent! You remember that track record we talked about?"

"Oh..." and as Darion regained proper use of his faculties he realised what she meant "...crap."

"You got a plan to get us outta this one, Jedi?"

"Jedi?" He asked, and at her blank expression, shrugged it off. "No. No, not _yet_."

* * *

Greer finally tripped the security alarms, to alert the spaceport and to get _her_ moving. He was pleased to see it had the desired effect. He watched as Quila sprinted to her ship.

He didn't stay to watch, instead he moved down the roof towards his waiting speeder. He almost lost his footing in the darkness, on the the slightly slick paneling, but regained his balance and dove into his blacked out speeder.

"Alright darlin', you're gonna owe me after this one," he said to himself, as he kicked the speeder into high gear and sped down into the disorganised traffic of the city.

Not wanting to hang around to find out what had set off the alert the Gundark's sting rose from the ferrocrete, a blast of air kicking up dust as the main drive fired, sending Quila's personal craft sailing out towards the city towers and the mountains beyond.

The Zeltron kept her craft as low as possible, but not so low as to appear suspicious. Using the constructs to mask her ship's signature for as long as she could, she wove between the towers and elevated buildings of Ord Mantell's Central City, until she finally she cleared it's outskirts, and could cleanly see (well, as cleanly as a smog ridden planet got), the hills beyond.

There were no pursuers, and in the darkness of night she doubted there would be. However, as much as she was enjoying her current anonymity, she was sure someone somewhere would be tracking her.

"Looks like I'm free and clear." She said to herself, a smile creasing her lips. Then she cursed as the small ship's sensors started beeping at her as her ship was painted with a targeting lock.

"Looks like I spoke too soon."

Throwing her ship instantly into a spiral, she felt the inertial compensators struggle to keep artificial gravity as red beams singed through the air where the ship had been mere moments before.

"Damn it," Quila muttered to the cockpit at large as she kicked her ship into a tight twist to avoid smashing into a rocky outcropping, "this planet's getting too hot and it's not the kind of hot I like."

Her threat board remained dark and showed no pursuer, what ever had locked onto her wasn't giving chase.

* * *

Far above, Commander Dalton paced. A security alert had been triggered at the Central City Spaceport; and _another_ ship had been detected taking off , and this was after the port was supposedly shut down. He'd have to see about getting the locals to adhere to Imperial regulations with more care; and maybe an extra division of stormtroopers or two. He'd make the recommendation to Pennle as soon as he had something, (or nothing) to report.

The sensor's operator finally shook his head. "I'm sorry, commander. We've lost them. Who ever was piloting that ship knew what they were doing. They must have used the buildings to mask their signature. They could be any one of those ships on outbound."

Dalton sighed heavily. "Very well, I'll make my report to the captain and we will make a full enquiry of what happened down below." He began to walk away, but paused and turned back for a moment, adding as almost an afterthought. "Oh, and have the port security arrested."

"Sir?"

"Yes, all of them, and despatch a contingent of Stormtroopers from the local Garrison. They'll be taking over security detail from here on, until our investigation is over."

"Aye sir."

* * *

Moff Renel smiled slowly. The news from Ord Mantell was quite interesting. The criminals in their custody had amassed quite the charge sheet. That thought was not what had caught his eye. There was a reasonably large bounty on them, put out by someone he had done a fair amount of _business_ with in the past. _Greer Najoll_.

He waited patiently for the holocom to the holocm in greer's office must have caught up for there was an image forming and it coalesced into humanoid form.

Renel blinked as he immediately recognised the tall slender woman responding to his call.

"Moff Arid Renel," she stated before Renel could say a single word.

Renel blinked and took an involuntary breath as he composed himself, "Where is Greer?"

"Greer has been relieved of office, Governor. I am currently overseeing operations here, such as scrutinising outstanding debts." She smiled without warmth. "Such as yours."

Renel's face hardened, "That was repaid for with Imperial _oversight_."

"Yes." retorted Guri deciphering Renel's meaning. "_Oversight_ can be so useful, but that was for _previous _debts. You have a fair number or new ones. But don't worry, I'm sure this was a social call. After all, we have so much in common. Now, why don't you tell me why you called?"

Renel saw no point in antagonising her so he spoke honestly. "Actually, it seems that we may have some business of yours to attend to here; a couple of smugglers na-"

"Darion Blade and Lanna Ky'rinn by any chance?" Guri interjected. She was quietly satisfied to see Renel start in surprise. She finished; "I thought so. Continue."

Renel ground his teeth. "We have them in a cell at this very moment. I was thinking of simply executing them but when they triggered certain personal search parameters. I thought I might just send them Greer's way, seeing as he put out a bounty on them."

Guri stood still for a good few seconds as she formulated a strategy. Darion Blade and Lanna Ky'rinn were neutralised. Guri knew full well that if Quila Firane was half the agent her files made her out to be, then she'd have had a bug planted in this office, or had spliced her way into the com unit to listen in. In fact she was sure it was the latter. This could be used against her.

"In an effort to repay your personal debts here no doubt?" Guri told renel

"Of course." Renel affirmed and Guri was ever so slightly impressed that the man opposite almost sounded like they were talking as equals.

She nodded. "Well today is rather lucky for you then. I will have an agent collect them, and once we have them in our hands, we will consider your current debts repaid. Any objections governor? No? Well it was great speaking to you. Goodbye."

Renel snarled as the connection abruptly terminated. He knew it was pointless to rage about it though. Then he smiled as he amused himself with thoughts of actual planetary testing of the Umbra class weaponry on Ord Mantell, with Black Suns operations as the prime target.

* * *

"_Well well, looks like I have a way out of trouble after all_." Quila's ship was now sitting in orbit, and she stared out of her cockpit window, at the gradually rotating stars. She leaned forwards, closing the link to her spliced com-hack, and then shifted over the navigation controls on her instrument board. She entered coordinates for the Talegia system.

Guri smiled as she watched the sensors track The Gundark's Sting. Once the update came through that Quila had gone to hyperspace, she reactivated the connection to Renel.

* * *

"Ah, it's you again," Renel sneered, "you obviously need me-"

Guri ignored his words speaking straight over him. "The agent we were discussing is on her way. It is not the task she thinks it is. You will deal with the situation. As for miss Firane, you may deal with her as you please. Detain her or send her back here in chains. Either is suitable."

Renel breathed deeply, composing himself, stressing every word slowly. "What then, _exactly_, is in it for me?"

Guri smiled charmingly. "Confidentiality, of course."

"I beg your pardon?" Renel asked cautiously. Asking for Imperial _oversight_ was one thing, and it usually meant look the other way; but this was something else. _Was she trying to blackmail him?_

"I really don't think you'd like your wife to know about some of these purchases. Karen isn't it?" Guri watched the uncomfortable looking Imperial straighten his uniform in an effort to compose himself.

She took note that for many lesser operatives, Renel would be quite a challenge. She decided to throw him a lifeline having concluded he was of use to the organisation. She baited him by staying quiet until he tried to speak.

"How did you-" he started, the words barely out of his mouth before she interrupted him.

"Oh and your debt will be cleared of course." She added smoothly, gaining his unwavering attention and some discrete pleasure from interrupting him a third time.

_Carrot and stick, _thought Renel. _The carrot is nice since this is Guri, the stick is always twice as effective if she beats someone with it. Like now. I have cards to play, she has cards to play but this not a woman to play Sabacc with, especially not when the deck is stacked in her favour._

"Then, it will be done as you _ask_."

The image of Guri faded from his desk, and Renel leaned back slowly in his chair, hands clasped together and a frown on his face. Eventually he reached forwards and pressed a switch on the desk.

"Commander Heiss," he began, "have Admiral Krask report to my office. And do accompany him. Renel out."

* * *

Greer Najoll smiled tiredly as he sat drowning his sorrows in the Writhing Razoronn. He savoured the peat aroma of an off world bourbon. The barman had started to refuse him but had wisely thought twice when he had noticed the dangerous glint in Greer's eye. The bourbon served was a little larger in measure than it was supposed to be.

Greer raised his glass and whispered "Here's to you you glorious little shotta."

As he downed his drink, his com link bleeped. He sighed and tapped the reply function. Guri's voice carried easily. "Hello again Greer."

Greer looked at the small cylindrical device in his hand with apprehension. "What do you want?"

"I have another job for you."

* * *

_Talegia_, a little known backwater planet that seemed to be rapidly gaining in its _tourism_ industry.


End file.
